So Close
by magnipisika16
Summary: So close to reaching that famous happy end. Almost believing that this was not pretend. Let's go on dreaming, for we know we are so close . . . but still so far . . .


***sigh* Yes, I believe I've been posting a lot of songfics lately, but I couldn't help myself. Stupid factory of ideas is not processing quite well here, so, yeah, sorry.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy this! I got the idea while I was dreaming about prom night . . . The prom night that will never become reality T.T**

**Enjoy!**

**Song: So Close  
Artist: John McLaughlin**

The light was too excruciatingly bright amidst the evening decorations that went along with it, not to mention the multitudinous evening dresses that swayed along the dance floor and more, and the beautiful faces that smiled at one another in enthusiastic greeting.

Everything was real through these sky-blue eyes.

The color.

The merriment.

The ecstasy.

The strikingly-lovely woman who stood in the center of it all, her radiant countenance emphasized even more by that simple white dress that flowed so gently and naturally down her well-structured body, as if it was a part of her.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," a baritone voice boomed through the speakers, filling everybody's ears, and somewhat their bodies as well, with so much excitement.

The evening has finally begun.

"Before we start with the first dance, I would just like to give a sincere 'Congratulations' to the newly-wedded couple, with the groom being _my _best friend." He gave a gracious nod at a direction to where the couple smiled tenderly back at him.

"Well, shall we start now?" He turned to give instructions to the band behind him, and then straightened himself to flash the guests his brilliant smile. "For the first song of the evening, may I ask all the gentlemen to please ask a lady that you _did not _invite to this event, and ask for a sweet dance with her?"

Surely enough, the men, all in black formal suits scoured around the majestic room to find a woman interesting enough, or at least, familiar to them. He himself wasted no time. With a stride wide enough to win the marathon, he approached the lady he'd been eyeing on ever since he stepped in the establishment, courteously giving his hand with a light bow.

"May I have this dance?" he invited as he watched her ruby eyes widen in recognition of him. He had to smile, seeing that she was still as predictable as he remembered her.

"Colonello . . .?" she muttered almost in uncertainty. His smile became more evident, and even more gorgeous, as he gently took her gloved hand, and planted a gentle kiss on it.

She hesitated for a moment, but, she soon gave in, and let him guide her towards the dance floor. Behind them, the host of the evening cleared his throat, and let out, in a melodic, gruff voice, the first song of the evening

"_You're in my arms and all the world is calm_

_The music playing on for only two"_

"I must admit," she started as he waltzed her tenderly around the small space he unconsciously established for themselves. "I didn't expect to see the likes of you here . . ."

"And, why is that, kora?"

"You know the answer to that," she murmured, her eyes going inward. "Gatherings such as these never seemed to be your thing."

"I guess there's so much you still don't know about me, kora . . ."

"_So close together and when I'm with you_

_So close to feeling alive . . ."_

"So, how have you been since I left, kora?" he inquired as he spun her with his arm, letting her back face him as he wrapped his arms around her.

"As if you couldn't notice them yourself," she almost hissed in annoyance from the feeling of his voice and breath landing so indiscriminately and freely on her ear and a part of her neck. With a sly movement that seemed as if it was part of their routine, she stepped on his foot with her pointed heels, making him give out a sharp whimper as he turned her around again to make her face him once more.

"Still my old Spartan commander . . ." he commented, his left eye wincing as he tried to endure the pain from his feet everytime it landed on the ground. "I guess not much has changed, kora."

"You're wrong," she argued as she leaned forward to land her face on his shoulder. Her next words were much clearer now that her mouth was near his ear to be heard.

"_So _many things changed, Colonello . . ."

"_A life goes by, romantic dreams will start_

_And I bid mine goodbye, I never knew"_

"Your voice changed," she observed as he glided her around. "It's gotten quite . . . softer. What do they make you drink back there in that place?"

"The usual," he replied. "I don't think what I drink—or intake, for that matter—has anything to do with my sudden voice alterations. Perhaps, it's because I barely gave out a statement while I was away."

"Why?"

He smiled so mysteriously, she had look straight into his eyes for her not to miss a beat.

"Because I had no one to talk to there. All my days and nights have been too silent since I left your side, but I have something to consider as a reason to go on, kora."

"What is that?"

"The dreams of you and me to be together again, kora."

"_So close with waiting, waiting here with you_

_And now, forever, I know"_

"R-Reborn-san, is that . . .?"

"Yep, that's him. I thought maybe I'd invite him here to Tsuna's wedding, seeing that his rather 'long vacation' had finally reached its conclusion."

The raven-haired woman's hands gradually lifted themselves to her mouth as the tears started rolling. She watched the scene with so much fondness that she didn't know what she'll do when the song ends, and they must let go of each other again.

Her partner casted a solemn look directed towards her.

"Please don't make that face, Luce," he required. "You make it look like what they're doing is something very wrong."

"_All that I wanted was to hold you so close . . ."_

"So, up until now, it is a habit of yours to utter such nonsense," Lal mumbled, her eyes throwing a sidelong glance. Colonello sighed as he placed her one hand on his shoulder so that his free one can grab her chin, and make her face him again.

"Don't you know that it's considered rude to look away when you're talking to someone?" he teased as he held her closer, making an evident blush appear on her smooth cheeks. "Especially if that someone is a long-lost friend, kora."

"I can treat you as how I want to treat you, Maggot, for you are . . ."

"I'm not your student anymore," he interfered, letting her face go, and now laying both his hands on both sides of her waist. "I haven't been that in a long time, kora . . ."

She didn't answer anymore, but rather gradually slide her hands off his shoulders to break away from him. But, he acted faster, and locked his hands on the lower part of her back, making her hands slide towards the back of his neck. His face went nearer to hers, and she found herself paralyzed.

"Oh, come on, you didn't miss me at all, kora?"

"_So close to reaching that famous happy end . . ."_

"Don't . . . taunt me with that question," she burbled, pushing him off of her, fixing herself rapidly as she tried to walk away, but Colonello was quick to grab her hand, and pull her for the continuation of the dance.

"The song has not yet ended," he claimed, and they glided off again.

"_Almost believing this was not pretend . . ."_

"Allow me to give you an advice, since you obviously need it very much." She glowered at him from beneath her reddening face. "Things may not be as what you expect them to be. Things change, people change."

"Quite deep of a topic for such a lighthearted party," he commented as he grasped her hand so lovingly, as if he didn't want to taint its glowing beauty. "You shouldn't be talking of such somber things; otherwise, that lovely face might only end up as waste, kora."

"Now, you're being too formal," she growled. "Stop pretending as if you were not affected with what I have just said . . ."

"I can assure you of one thing, Lal," he said as he slightly lifted her off her feet, making her look deeply into his compelling eyes. "I am certainly not pretending, kora . . ."

"_Now you're beside me, and look how far we've come"_

As he spun her around, he noticed how her expression wavered. His smile was pressed into a grim line as he slowed their pace.

"You never answered my question, kora," he pointed out bleakly, and she looked up at him. She noticed how his enthusiastic blue eyes began to fade as he loosened his hold on her body.

"Colonello . . ."

"Would you like me to repeat it, kora?"

She didn't answer, but rather, tightened her hold onto his neck as she leaned so tenderly to his hold. Their feet had soon stopped moving as he returned the gesture and embraced her with so much yearning.

"_So far, we are . . ."_

"Of course, I missed you," she whispered.

"_. . . So close . . ."_

Soon they broke their short embrace that was long overdue. Nobody noticed them since they were hidden by the other couples who waltzed happily around the dance floor, but it was evident. Everyone unconsciously noticed the sudden rise of a different mood around the whole establishment.

True, this celebration was for the newly-wedded couple to celebrate their being together, and everyone's attentions were glued to them. However, there were some—at least a handful of few—pair of eyes that watched the couple that moved so flawlessly underneath the warm spotlight. Oh, how they wish that this scene would last longer.

Much, much longer . . .

Far longer than how time would permit them to.

Far longer than how anyone would expect the song to last.

"I'm happy for those two," the groom muttered as he watched the concealed pair from where he sat. "It will all be a sin if they would not end up together." He smiled tenderly at his bride, and leaned to over to kiss her affectionately on her lips, and when he broke away, from just a few feet apart from where they sat, the loving blond man with eyes as blue as the tranquilizing rain, did the same.

"C-Colonello . . ." she breathed, tears springing out of her russet eyes, streaming down her cheeks. She reached up to his face, and stared at him with such wide orbs, as if to question his previous action.

"It's okay now," he said, wiping away her tears with the back of his hand. "I promise that I'll never leave you again. The first one will be the last, kora."

Lal bit her lips as she shook her head.

"Believe in me, Lal," he persuaded. "Because I . . ."

"Excuse me."

"_Oh how could I face the faceless days"_

The two turned to face the raven-haired intruder who was smiling tenderly at them, mostly to Colonello.

"Fon," Colonello recognized almost immediately even though he was almost unidentifiable in his black suit.

"Greetings to you, Colonello," he welcomed. "My, haven't changed so much since you left . . ."

"Hey, thanks. You too, kora," Colonello grinned, and he noticed the sober way Fon stared at them in that moment, especially at Lal, who was grimacing the whole time they were all talking.

"I'm sorry if I . . . interrupted your little moment with her," Fon continued.

"Oh, it's okay, I mean . . ." He wrapped his arm around Lal like he always did before, and the tension he never get to perceive grew worse. Fon gave out a sigh to try and relieve it.

"I'm pretty sure it's okay, Colonello," he whispered, looking down. "And, I hope that this would be okay with you as well . . ." He reached forward and grasped Lal's wrist, and made her stand next to him. "You wouldn't mind if I could have some time with my girlfriend?"

"Haha . . . what?" Colonello tried his best to take it as a joke, but the grim expression on Fon's face and the suffering expression on Lal's connoted that no one was joking at all.

How long was he gone?

"_If I should loose you now?"_

"Sorry, Colonello . . ." Lal whispered as she followed Fon towards the side to join the others. A few watched the scene with a few scornful glances, since the song was not yet done and the two appeared to be talking about something important, but they soon shrugged it off. Everybody knew of what was between them.

Everybody, but Colonello.

"_We're . . ."_

"Hey there," Reborn greeted, raising his hand for a return-greeting, but Colonello ignored it and kept on walking. Then he stopped, and faced the couple looking at him both with such mournful eyes.

"Since when?" he muttered, refusing to stare into their eyes.

"Since she received the news that you have someone else in your life while you were overseas," Reborn replied.

"B-but that was . . ." He chose not to continue anymore, for his friend was right. He found love anew in that glorious place, but, it never lasted. He never made it last, for he knew that someone was waiting for him here in his home.

Now he knows he expected too much.

"_So close to reaching that famous happy end"_

"So Lal and Fon . . ." he started, but the words never came out of his lips. It ached so much to hear them, especially if they were heard from his own voice. "I should've known, kora . . ."

"We should've told you," Luce argued.

"It's fine," he reassured her.

He looked at both of them and that strange connection going on between them. You didn't need much thought to know that they have something special. At least they ended up together.

"I-if it's okay with you Luce, I . . ." His hand lifted itself towards the back of his head as he casted a sidelong glance. Luce gave a soft giggle as she gave a courtesy, and then offered her hand to him. Automatically, his eyes were casted towards Reborn, and the latter, in turn, gave an approving nod.

"I don't like dancing anyway," he even added.

"_Almost believing that this was not pretend"_

They glided so smoothly across the bedazzled room filled with smiles, with beams, with grins which no one can tell whether true or just pretend. As for his, it was certain it was for pretend. Off course he was happy to be able to catch up with Luce, but that smile . . .

That smile will forever be broken.

He knew it will always be.

"Their behind us," Luce pointed out sadly, and then tried to give him a beam in which he returned politely.

"I can tell, kora," he whispered as he turned themselves so that he could face the couple. The tension on Fon's face has disappeared as he appeared to be comforting Lal in some way, and as for Lal, he couldn't see what she was thinking for her back was turned on him, as if to tell him that she refuse to look at him intentionally.

Lal, however, was not heeding Fon's statements or Colonello's silent pleadings, but both of them she felt and it all made her suffer worst.

"Forgive me if I intruded whatever it was between you two," Fon whispered as he pulled her closer, secretly catching every bit of Colonello's secret glances. "I just can't . . ."

"Don't explain yourself to me," she told him. "There's nothing for you to explain. It's not your fault that he doesn't know, and, now that he does, I feel secure that he won't interfere anymore, but to be highly sure, I want to . . . to press the idea in his head."

"I'm pretty sure he will understand in time, Lal . . ."

"Yeah? I sure wish he does . . ."

"I don't want to hurt Colonello, Lal, but . . ."

She looked up to his dark eyes as he looked down to her auburn ones.

"I can't stand the thought that I have to hand you over to him."

"_Let's go on dreaming for we know we are . . ."_

He slowly lowered her into a dip, and then slowly neared his face towards her.

"_So close . . ."_

Lal's eyes slightly broadened, but nonetheless, slowly closed them and felt his warm lips brush against hers, a single tear trickling down her lovely face.

"_So close . . ."_

Colonello also lowered Luce into a dip, then raised his head involuntarily, and saw what woke him up to such a painful reality.

"_But, still so far . . ."_

-**FIN-**

**Before anything else, yes, I will confirm . . .**

**The one who sang was none other than Gokudera XD Well . . . I couldn't think of anybody else with enough glory to sing for Tsuna's wedding, so *laughs so hard, milk comes out nose***

***wipes nose***

**Anywho, I'm sorry (yet again) for another sad ending . . . I don't really know what's wrong with me for the past few days, and I have been posting such sad or angsty ColoLal . . . Maybe somebody there can give me enough inspiration to make a happy ColoLal fic, namely the Colonello non-RPer from our group? *smiles like an idiot to Nikki-chan*But, of course, who am I to demand attention from the Colonello of our group? He's probably with someone much more worthy than I could ever be, **_**even **_**if I was the Lal Mirch RPer.**

**But, don't get me wrong . . . I LOOOOOOVIEEEEE DUUUVVVIIIIEEE my Nikki-chan! Hopefully, she (yep, she's a girl!) doesn't read this, though =.= I'm talking to you, someone who I shall hide in the name "Ai-chan". *winks at Skull RP-er***

**Thanks for reading, and to those who know me in FB and found my messages about the two prospects as disturbing, I am sorry I embarrass you guys :D**

**LoveLots~**

**P.S.: Don't worry about Luce! She's not pregnant here! Hi to Mari-chan if she's reading this!**


End file.
